John Ernst Steinbeck, one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century, was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. Throughout his life he learned to appreciate his surroundings and love the rural areas of Salinas. This appreciation would later emerge in his writings. During Steinbeck's graduate studies at Stanford University he held many jobs, "including one as a... laborer in the beet and barley fields of Salinas." (Telgen 241). For two years, during Steinbeck's retirement from Stanford, he “worked on a ranch south of Salinas” (Telgen 241). In response to his experiences in the fields and ranches of Salinas, Steinbeck would later write his timeless novel Of Mice and Men. In this novel, Steineck reveals the importance of dreams specifically in the lives of George and Lennie (as well as the other characters), and how his strength can get them through difficult times, even if those dreams don't come true. Of Mice and Men is set in a time where dreams don't exist for the average American, but they were found in characters like George and Lennie. The central dream of this novel is George and Lennie's dream of owning their own ranch. The dream comes to life when George explains, "Someday, we'll put it all together and have a little house and a couple of acres, a cow and some pigs and...", "And we'll live off the lan'," ( Steinbeck 14). However, George and Lennie's dreams are only fragile fantasies that will never come true. At the end of the novel, George and Lennie's dream of owning a farm has failed. Their dream fails for many reasons, one of which is "Their image of the farm is overly idealized." (Themes and construction: of mice and men George and Lennie overly idealize them... middle of paper...). 'No one ever gets to heaven and no one ever gets earth. It's just in their heads”' (81) the dreams in this story were all in their heads, they were just idealized fantasies, although the dreams in the novel Of Mice and Men turned out to be a failure, somehow its strength helped them to overcome difficult moments. Works Cited Fontenrose, Joseph "Critique of Joseph Fontenrose Authors". Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Junior. Storm. Dulles High School. April 22, 2014. “Of Mice and Men.” Main plots. Ed. Diane Telgen. vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997.115-135. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Network. April 12, 2014.Steinbeck, Giovanni. Of mice and men. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print. “Themes and Construction: Of Mice and Men.” EXPLORING novels. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Junior. Storm. Dulles High School. April 22. 2014.